Chapter 23 First Date
First Date
Tae
All Tae wanted was to do something easy.
After three failed setups, Julia deserved easy. And frankly, so did Tae.
And after a night of incredible sex together, Tae ached to just be alone with Julia. He wanted to hold her, touch her, talk
to her, laugh with her, be inside her again. He did not want to share her with anyone. So he suggested they have their first
real date. Just the two of them, alone.
“I’d really, really like that,” she said to him, releasing a breath, sounding so relieved. That was exactly what Tae felt
too. He was going to reward her for that extra really too.
So yeah, easy sounded great right about now. Something totally opposite to the kind of pressure-clad date that required practice dates
and check-ins from best friends and report-backs to family members. A date that didn’t leave Julia feeling discouraged and
blaming herself for its predestined failure. And something that didn’t leave Tae feeling like an underachieving loser.
A date that Julia didn’t try to sabotage, and Tae didn’t try to overcompensate.
But he was beginning to feel like this wasn’t going to be easy at all.
So you two are finally doing this.
The text he’d gotten from Rachel was not unexpected. He figured Julia would tell her two best friends everything and get them
caught up. He wondered how much everything entailed. Did she tell them about the race car bed?
He held the phone between his ear and shoulder, waiting for Rachel to pick up as he pushed Mr. Choi’s washing machine back
into its spot.
“I pushed the pipe in a little farther, so it shouldn’t make that noise anymore,” he said loudly to the hard-of-hearing Mr.
Choi.
“Is that what you said to Julia the other night?” Rachel said, answering his call.
Tae’s coughing fit was a combination of mortification and trying not to laugh at the timing. So that answered that.
“Thank you, Tae. I’ll pay you next week after my social security check comes in.”
“No worries, Mr. Choi. Whenever works for you,” he said. He bowed his goodbye and stepped outside. “Sorry about that, Rachel.”
“Honestly, Tae. Julia says it all the time, but you really are the goddamn salt of the earth.”
“Yeah, yeah, whatever. So you wanted to grill me about Julia, clearly. Okay, have at it.”
“Well, I hear there’s now a postcoital date on the books. So what are you thinking of doing?” Rachel asked. Jesus, she didn’t
mince words. But with Julia came an overbearing family and even more overbearing friends. Tae was actually charmed by it.
He came with stuff too.
“Something simple. Maybe dinner?” he said.
“Dinner like with a lawyer from Fullerton or with Dr. Joshua Park?”
Just the name alone sent a spike of rage through Tae’s spine. If Tae ever met the good doctor face-to-face again, he’d make
sure the guy would need a plastic surgeon shortly after.
“Not like those dates because I’m not an asshole.”
“Touché.”
“I wanted to cook for her. But I’m not sure it’s the most romantic thing to have her come back over to my parents’ house.”
“Why don’t you cook for her at her place?”
So that’s how he found himself here, knee-deep in an elaborate scheme to surprise Julia with a simple homemade meal in her
condo. Getting past security without being on an approved guest list was the challenge for Sonia. Getting Tae the code to
Julia’s door was the challenge for Rachel. Getting Julia to leave the office by six was the challenge for Annette. Making
sure Julia didn’t freak out about it all when she came home was, he guessed, the challenge for Tae.
This easy date was turning into something very not easy.
Julia’s condo was immaculate. He could have guessed she was a neat freak, what with her mentioning she had a home organization
coach on payroll. But really, there was not a single thing out of place.
Tae put the groceries down on her huge marble waterfall kitchen island and walked over to the floor-to-ceiling windows that
overlooked the ocean. Julia had done this. She had made something on her own into a huge success, and this was hers. Tae couldn’t
help but smile. He was so fucking proud of her.
Neither of them came from money, but of all the people in their community she’d made herself the biggest success. It was damn
impressive . . . and sexy as hell.
She was on top of the world.
And he was in a basement.
That didn’t seem to bother Julia, he reminded himself. She seemed more than happy to spend time with him, and, well, if last Friday was any indicator, she was very satisfied. But he wanted to give her more than just stolen moments in his childhood race car bed.
Tae’s phone vibrated in his pocket.
“Hello?”
“May I speak to Tae Kim, please? This is Maggie Newsome from the Sharp Hospital billing department returning your call.”
“Oh yes, hello. Thanks for getting back to me.”
“Mr. Kim, unfortunately I don’t have good news. You asked me to look into any additional coverage I could find for your father
to help pay for medical bills. But he’s already maxed on the Medicare claim. And he isn’t technically your dependent, so you
wouldn’t be able to bring him under your coverage from your job.”
So that was that. The only reason Tae had been so hesitant about quitting outright was for the insurance. If it wasn’t going
to cover his dad, what good was it? And how was he going to come up with the rest of the money for the bills?
No job, no pay. Dr. Joshua Park had probably never begged for a handout in his life.
“Understood. Thanks for looking into it for me, Ms. Newsome. Before you go, would you mind telling me what the current balance
owed is?”
“With your last payment, it brings it down to forty-one thousand nine hundred dollars. Since the bill has been past due now
for thirty days, you’ll likely incur a late fee soon. If you’re able to pay it off within seven days, I’ll make sure they
don’t penalize you.”
If Tae was able to pay it off, it wouldn’t be past due.
“Thank you. Appreciate the call.”
Tae dropped down on to the couch and raked his fingers through his hair. This was the last thing he wanted to be thinking about tonight. Here, surrounded by all the signs of Julia’s success.
It wasn’t a competition. But wasn’t success the arbitrary goal line that all Koreans held themselves and others up to? Why didn’t they ever talk about happiness? Did
that not matter?
Maybe Tae was wrong thinking he’d figure it all out as long as he was happy. Because scraping by was not making Tae any happier
than before. In fact, it made those days he didn’t even have the energy or desire to get up out of bed, those times where
he felt consumed by darkness and despair, more frequent.
He let out a deep sigh. He wasn’t going to solve any of this here, tonight. But what he could do was make a nice, simple meal
for Julia and try to have a good time.
With a prewarning text from Annette, which included heart, fire, peach, and eggplant emojis, telling Tae Julia was on her
way, Tae leaned against the kitchen island as Julia beeped her way into her home.
Julia took one look at the kitchen and then one look at Tae. “What the fuck is going on here?” She immediately slapped her
hand to her mouth.
Not quite the reaction Tae had hoped for.
“Sorry, shit, I get sailor-mouthy when I’m surprised.”
“I’m into it,” he teased.
Julia’s neck flushed.
“I personally find sailor-mouthy Julia pretty sexy.” He walked up to her and bent to give her a soft kiss on the lips. “Hi.”
“Hi,” she said back. He stared into her eyes for a moment longer. If he didn’t look away, all his hard work prepping dinner
would be swept to the floor as he ate Julia on this kitchen island instead.
Something told him she wouldn’t appreciate the mess.
“What is all this?” she asked.
“I thought we’d make gimbap,” he answered.
“I love gimbap.”
“Yeah, I know.”
“But I’m a really bad cook.”
“Yeah, I know.” He smiled. “Isn’t that why you have a cooking coach? But luckily, all the prep work is done, and all we have
to do is put it together and roll it up to eat.”
She nodded but looked skeptical.
Tae grabbed her bag and coat and placed them on the sofa. Julia stared at them. Tae went back and picked up her bag and coat
from the sofa. “Um, where should I put these?”
“Oh, the coat closet would be an okay place to put the coat,” she said.
He smirked. “Smart-ass.” He walked past her and gave her a peck on the cheek as he headed to the coat closet.
Then the two of them washed their hands and got to work.
Tae showed Julia how to lay down the sheet of seaweed, spread the rice, and layer the vegetables for the inside.
“Okay, so tuck the end in and use the bamboo mat to roll.”
Julia struggled to get the roll to sit tight enough, and everything unraveled, falling apart.
“I suck at this,” she whined.
Tae came up behind her, wrapping his arms around hers. He lowered his face into the crook of her neck and breathed in. Julia
leaned her head to the side, giving him easier access. His lips found her pulse point. Kiss. And then her ear. Kiss. Her shoulder
blade. Kiss.
“Tae,” she whispered.
He’d never, ever in his entire life get over hearing her say his name like that.
He was already half-hard, and they’d barely had any contact.
“Julia,” he whispered back. He pressed his front closer to her back so she could feel how turned on she made him.
Julia groaned, and Tae continued to make work of her neck, kissing her wherever his lips could reach.
“This feels amazing,” she said. “But I’m so hungry.”
He dropped his chin to her shoulder and laughed. “Right, I promised to feed you.”
She looked over her shoulder at him and smiled. “It’s early. We have all night for the fun stuff.”
He nodded and looked down at the mess she was making.
“My roll keeps coming undone. I can’t get it tight enough.”
Tae placed his hands over Julia’s and helped her tuck her fingers to tighten the hold as she rolled the mat.
“Thanks,” she said softly. She reached for a kitchen towel and wiped Tae’s hands for him and then her own. How did Julia do
this to him? Making the most efficient of touches feel erotic.
She turned in his arms to face him, and he wrapped his around her waist, drawing her in.
She lifted herself on her toes and kissed him.
He leaned his head to the side and deepened the kiss, his thumb finding its way under the waistband of her slacks, touching
her soft, warm skin. He couldn’t get enough contact with her. He was addicted to the feeling of her in his arms.
She pulled back and looked up at him under her lashes. “You eat the ones I made, and I’ll eat the ones you made,” she said,
batting her lashes at him.
“You distracted me so you can get the better gimbap.”
She nodded, turned out of his arms, grabbed the plate of rolls he had made, and went to sit at the table, a wicked smile on
her face.
Tae smiled as he watched her walk away.
He was so getting her back for that, and he couldn’t fucking wait.